Saturday, December 30, 2006

I was watching an archived game of the Ottawa Lynx vs. the Red Barons from July 29th of this past season. Here’s a few random thoughts:

Keith Reed – When you see him in person as I did in Spring Training last year, he sends you scrambling for your roster sheet to see who he is. He is very tall, very fast and very thin. Reed was drafted in 1999 with the O’s first pick. They probably thought he would fill out more, provide more power but evidently he never has. 6’4” and 210 pounds. A beanpole. Lousy base stealer for the speed that he has. Gets lousy jumps on the ball in centerfield too. Guess he’s no more than AAA filler at this point.

Val Majewski – He may no longer be considered a prospect after his injury but the guy plays a great right-field. Good instincts, very good range, great cannon for an arm. Perhaps he will still develop into a fourth outfielder for the organization but a .260 average and a sub-.400 slugging percentage at AAA won’t do it.

Hayden Penn – There really isn’t anything left for this guy to prove at AAA. He’s got great breaking stuff. He went 7-4 with a 2.26 ERA in 14 starts for Ottawa. 86 K’s in 89 innnings. A WHIP of 1.12. He’s earned it. The O’s just need to stick this guy in the 5th spot (provided he beats out Loewen in Spring Training) in the rotation and let him and Leo work it out in the majors.